After hunkering down for a while you might find yourself buried alive under the amount of low voltage networking information.
While crawling and running in the trench you'll bump into fellow soldiers cat5e, fiber optic cable, security cameras. You'll also find tutorials, tips, installation aids and all kinds of cool networking stuff!
The commander and chief is Discount-Low-Voltage.com

Friday, October 26, 2012

Over the past couple of years I've been getting more calls and inquires regarding Cat6A copper networking. I agree that Cat6A is cool but let's dig a bit more into the cable and connectivity before we talk about who's mostly installing it.

The Cat6A standard is performing 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GBASE-T) up to 500MHZ and at a maximum distance of 328ft. Cat6A is also backward compatible with Cat6 and Cat5e performance applications. (Don't forget that Cat6 will do 10G up to 180 feet).

When comparing Cat6A cables from one brand to the other I'm always comfortable with the standard 500MHZ rating. You might find Cat6A cables with a higher MHZ rating, typically those cables are more interested in appearing as a "faster speed" cable. This is a common selling point by low end quality cable manufactures trying to appear as a faster cable for less cost and I've also seen it with high end cable manufactures trying to get the consumer to pay more for the same product.

If you do see a higher MHZ rating keep in mind there is no standard for a higher MHZ rated Cat6A cable. The standard for for Cat6A is defined by TIA (Telecommunications Industry Association) as 568-C.2 replacing 568-B.2-10 and it defines this standard as a performance requirement for Cat6A channels, permanent links and components at 500MHZ. The ISO (International Standards Organization) has it listed as 11801 Class EA, the equivalent standard outside North America.

500MHZ is the standard, so if you do find a different MHZ rating you're paying for something that has no defined standard so your paying more for less. I've had to go over the MHZ rating for years on Cat5e big E and little E all thanks to manufactures confusing the market. Stop please!

There will also be some other things to think about, like how Cat6A cable is sold on reels. You'll need some reel handling equipment. If your going to pull this cable once ever, you can make a reel stand with a couple of ladders and a pole. I know it's not pretty but I've seen it many times on job sites.

The weight of this cable is also an issue with shipping cost, going through UPS can be expensive. Moving these cables around at your installation can be also be a chore due to the weight. Bend with the knees.

The diameter of the cable could also present a problem. The above video shows a first generation Cat6A cable and that cable typically has a outside diameter of .330" and Cat6 has a typical outside diameter of .230" and there is a very noticeable difference. A second generation Cat6A cable has been out for a little while now and has a outside diameter of .300" and that has helped ease the installation process and saving cost on certain types of materials such as conduits, horizontal, vertical cable management, J-hooks and cable runways.

You also need to think about the bend radius. To maintain Cat6A performance the minumum bend radius should be 4x the outside diameter for UTP and shielded. This radius is larger than Cat6 and Cat5e. The cable pulling tension must not exceed 25 pounds of force. Don't forget threaded rods, stronger anchors are also needed to support the heavier cable.

You'll also find that on the connectivity side of things it could get very expensive. Here's a look at possibly the top line of Cat6A insert jacks by Commscope, an overview of the jack then how to terminate. (Sorry, I deleted the Jack Video so I can redo it, take a look at their Cat6A cable until I redo it).

As you can tell the Commscope Systimax jack is awesome but can cost up to $17 each but then again it is a top dog and the test results prove it.

Another quality insert jack to maybe consider is by Signamax. Here's an overview on it and how to terminate it.

The Signamax jack can run up to $7 each, better priced than the Commscope brand but still a noticeable higher difference in cost compared to their Cat6 and Cat5e offering.

Another common question I get asked about is what about shielded? I think shielded jacks and cable are not necessary for most applications. I've commonly sold shielded products for Television and Radio station installations, for a home or even your common commercial installation I think is overkill. Alright, we can check out a shielded jack anyways.

So we have jacks and cable, let's talk about patch panels. Most of the patch panels I've seen from brand to brand seem to not have a noticeable difference. Still using a 110 blade for punching down and still taking up the same amount of rackspace for the ports. You know, 24 port is 1U 48 port is 2U and so on.

So we've talked about cable, jacks, patch panels but what about patch cords? So far I've been moving 26awg patch cords and they are stranded for flexibility.

The patch cables in the above video shows that it does in fact have a small outside diameter of around 0.24 and that goes a long way when patching panels to routers. Patch cord pricing is not all that bad compared to a quality American made Cat6 or Cat5e patch cable. Cable manufactures seem to only be offering bulk Cat6A stranded cable for assemblies in a shielded version. I understand, it's cheaper to carry just a shielded cable then both.

The Cat6A market is still very fresh and trying to gain traction. It might be growing slowly into the market over the past few years due to the economy or due to the emergence of fiber optic cable for 10G applications.

Many new switches from Cisco and Hewlett Packard have a 10G option when used with the appropriate SFP modules and with fiber pushing 10G much further than copper, fiber optics have been much more popular in campus environments. Data centers do seem to be the one area that is using a good mix of 10G fiber and copper.

I understand everyone wants the latest and greatest but I'm not sure if Cat6A will successfully escape the data center. Maybe it'll just stay there and die.

Friday, October 19, 2012

The most popular Cat3 telephone cable for underground direct burial installations is your PE89 constructed cable. You might of also looked into the United States Department of Agriculture's Rural Electrical Administration (REA) specification for filled telephone cables with expanded insulation to make sure you had what you're looking for.

Let's take a look at a PE89 Aluminum Single Armored Cable from our YouTube Channel

Now let's look at a PE89 (CACSP) Double Armored Cable.

As you can tell these cables are the exact same except the armoring. In section 9.3 of the REA specification a double armored cable is labeled as a (CACSP) for coated aluminum coated steel polyethylene cable.

When might you consider a double armored cable? On a personal level, I believe that the single armor is more then sufficient to support rodents from getting to this cable. The jacket alone is very durable and my hat goes off to the rodent that chewed through that!

Most of our direct burial cable sales are with a single armored but you might want to spend some time researching the installation area for what kinds of rodents are around and if it's a more populated rodent living area.

It might not be a bad idea to also install a double armored cable where it may be submerged in depths of 40 feet or more. Here are some additional tips to consider for underwater installations.

I hope we've shed some light on this commonly asked question. Now it's time to figure out what you're more comfortable with, single or double. Wish it was as easy as deciding single or double from In-N-Out burger.

Friday, October 12, 2012

If you're really digging deep to figure out what cable will best suit your facility you might have noticed that two cables are very similar, the PE89 and the PE39. In the video below Mercy Salinas with Discount-Low-Voltage.com talks about what that difference is.

So the difference between these two cables, Rural Utilities Service (RUS) 1753F-205 PE-39 compared to 1753F-208 PE-89 is the method used to insulation the copper conductors. With the similarities so close to one another these cables before installation seemed to get installed based on the preference of the installation contractor.

Friday, October 5, 2012

External wiring to the building is called outside plant cabling. Outside plant cabling can support a wide variety of communications services such as telephone, data transfer, live video, security, building automation control systems and any other low voltage circuitry.

Keep in mind that you must install OSP cable in compliance with National Electric Codes (NEC), National Electric Safety Code (NESC), utility franchise regulations and local building codes.

Before you start laying your cable down OSP cable installation should be based on a 10 year outlook plan. You may consider that the building owner may sell portions of the property so it may be necessary to obtain property easements. Keep an eye out if the cable run is going to cross railroad tracks or other utility company right of way or a natural occurrence such as a pond or stream.

Your OSP cable run will need to be secure. You'll need to provide an alternate route in case of disaster recovery, location of local exchange carrier facilities and the physical terrain of the campus. Extra pathways should be planned for maintenance purposes. It's typically a good idea to check in with your local exchange carrier regarding their facilities within, or adjacent, to the building.

Three pathways are used in outside plant construction. Aerial, underground conduit and direct burial and they can be used in any combination. Today we're going over direct burial installation.

A direct burial cable system is similar to a buried coduit system and has many of the same advantages but, the disadvantage is the capacity cannot be increased. Your cable also doesn't have as much mecanical protection as a buried conduit system.

Things to consider are type of soil and subsurface conditions, the possibility of joint trench use, and the back-filling method. The minimum depth of the trench should be 24 inches unless the local code requirement differs. If a possibility exist of your OSP cable being dug up by accident you may want to bury it deeper for added protection. Continuous planks should be used and placed 1ft below grade level for visual warning. (Trenching in action below).

For direct burial fiber optic cable you need to put down a copper conductor along with your fiber so that your cable can be located by a cable locating instrument in case you need to identify where your underground cable is in the future.

When back filling your OSP cable examine and use clean backfill material. The soil should not have any sharp objects or large rocks that could damage your cable during your backfill. After your backfill is complete your now ready to terminate your cable.

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I'm a guy who hates to lose. A father and a husband. I enjoy a good Football and Hockey game, preferably a good defensive game where nobody scores. Love shooter video games, especially the modern warfare series on XBOX live. I also enjoy videography and chess.

If you've check out my YouTube channel I've been very busy with my company e-commerce store. I think there's over 600 videos on fiber optic cable, communications wire, security cameras and all kinds of stuff that's involves Information Technology. Don't forget to subscribe!